Loving the Enemy
by Midori Nakamura
Summary: Kagome was brought up hating the Takahashi's but that was before she met Inuyasha Takahashi. Soon she becomes friends with him and becomes a traitor to her own family. To make things worst Inuyasha was brought up to hate the Higurashi's.love is difficlut.
1. Default Chapter

**Loving the Enemy**

**(ME): I hate doing this, it's so pointless. Really, if I owned 'Inuyasha' or the plot of the novel called the 'Scribbler of Dreams' do you really think I would be writing this story or other stories for that matter? I would be rich I wouldn't waste valuable shopping time writing. So I won't do it and waste my time typing…I won't.**

**(MY LAWYER): That's fine… If you want to get sued and be dirt poor for the rest of you life. **

**(ME): so…. then that means no shopping?**

**(MY LAWYER): no shopping.**

**(ME): well in that case then… I don't own Inuyasha or the novel called Scribbler of Dreams. Now on with the story! **

**Chapter 1: the Takahashi's**

I am Kagome Higurashi, and I was born to hate the Takahashi's.

Despise the Takahashi's.

Loathe the Takahashi's.

Every drop of my Higurashi blood abhors the Takahashi's. Was it always like this you may ask? And to tell you the truth it pretty much was, the Takahashi's and the Higurashi's have hated each other for generations.

I opened my bedroom door hoping that my mother hadn't heard. Today was as hard for her as it was for me, maybe even harder.

She poked her head in the door. She heard.

"Almost ready?" she asked.

"Just 2 more minutes then I'll be down." I said trying to sound perky.Perky yah right.

She walked over to my small single bed while I was combing my hair.

"Kagome…." She sighed.

"It's just school mom, relax, everything will be fine. Tell Sota to wait in the car for me."

She sighed and nodded and left my room. But both her and I knew that everything wasn't fine nor will it ever be fine. Today I was starting my senior year at a Takahashi school on Takahashi land, bought with Takahashi money. Probably only whores went there. For years my parents have sacrificed to let my brother and I attend a Christian private school even though they aren't the least bit religious. But they both would rather die then see their children attend a Takahashi school built on Takahashi land.

My father didn't know yet, He couldn't know, we couldn't tell not with all he's been though… what the Takahashi's have done to him.

The hate that has been in my generations for years was no longer a careless fact in my head but a burning desire to hate the Takahashi's. It was the one thing I could count on when I couldn't count on anything else.

I took one last look in my cracked dresser mirror and pulled my hair into a ponytail so it wouldn't fall on my red T. I looped on a red belt with my black jeans and lightly combed on a light layer of mascara.

"You'll never fit in, Kagome Higurashi." I whispered. I opened my eyes so wide so that no tears wouldn't form and make my mascara run. There's no time for that.

"Kags, Hurry up or you and your brother will be late."

"Coming." I said.

I grabbed my books, and snatched my journal from the top of my dresser. I shut my bedroom door and started reading my last entry.

_September 6,_

_Back and forth, Back and forth. The tide ebbs and swirls, surrounding, reaching, touching with its foamy fingers. Teasing at my last breathless moments. Surging up and over, pulling me under. The tide is winning…………_

I added a few more words.

_…But for the moment my foot brushes the bottom, and I am able to push, to grasp hold of a few last breaths. For a moment the tide must wait._

I tossed my journal into my Backpack and grabbed an apple from the counter. The screen door made its familiar screeching sound as it opened. The only thing worse then going to Shikon high was that I had to go with my brother. Thank good he was a freshman this year and, hopefully I wouldn't see him at all during school.

Sota had grabbed the keys and had already started the car. He had the radio blasting one of his many favourite songs. As I slid into the drivers seat, my mother ran down our long never-ending stairs. I reached over and turned the radio off. Sota glared at me. Like I cared.

Mom bent down and motioned me to roll the window down. She just couldn't let go. More words to her were like a stay of implementation, but they just made my heart beat faster.

"Kagome, I know you will make…the best of it. Watch out for your brother, Okay? And remember to stick together. The Higurashi's always stick together. And try not to spend all your time with your nose in that journal of yours, try and make friends."

_Friends?_ Was she delusional? She waited for me to respond. She had an anxious smile across her face. It as pitiful. How could she believe that I would make friends with a Takahashi or anyone at that school? After all they had done. I nodded and I even went so far to say I'd keep an eye out of Sota. I lied I know, but if it would make her feel better then it was worth it. She turned around but before she left she turned back and said.

"Remember! Kagome and Sota _Nakamura._ Nakamura. Its not really a lie you to are both Nakamura's to. It just to make things… easier. Right?"

But no madder how you worded it, it was a lie. I couldn't answer her it felt like the ultimate betrayal, but as my mother said it would make things "_easier_". Easier compared to what? The hell we already live in? I have wondered what it would be like to have a normal life. Only worry about clothes, school, boy's… things that normal seventeen-year-old girls worry about.

"Nakamura, Yes we got it, Mom! Gotta go." Sota honked the horn and leaned backed into his seat. Sota didn't mind being registered at the school under the name Nakamura. Hell he's been using it all summer since he signed up for the freshman's soccer team. He left the Higurashi name behind him in the dust. But a name is not something you can run away from or change who you are. I am a Higurashi. Period. Even if my school records now say Nakamura.

As I drove down the dirt road I could see the rice paddy workers dipping their heads up and down. Two years ago the crops had been good. My dad even said that we would have money left over to fix up the house a little, and god knows it needed it. But when my father killed Inutaisho Takahashi eighteen months ago everything changed.

"So _you _are going to keep an eye out for me huh?" Sota asked as we bumped along the main road. What a ridiculous thought. Sota was the one that had friends at that high school. Guys from his soccer team. Sota was not at all shy.

"I have no intension of keeping an eye on you. I have better things to do."

"Like what write your journal? I hope you take moms advice and at least try and make friends. I don't want the whole school to think my sister is some kind of loser."

"Well I certainly wouldn't want to damage your rep by acting half way literate-oh, excuse me is that a too big of word for you to understand?

Sota shut up for the rest of the way. But I almost missed the teasing. It made me forget about the flips and flops that were happening in my stomach.

I searched for the hate. The hate for the Takahashi's that had put the angry furrow across my eyebrow just like the one my grandfather had. But with each pasting mile I could only think about how alone I truly was. The fear was winning. Twisting its way past my stomach, through my veins, its cold fingers tightening their hold on my chest.

I was a Higurashi. I would make the best of it.

**So… Good? Not so good? Give me your honest opinion! I know chapters are short but they won't always be. **

**Oh and don't worry its going to be quite a bit different from the book. The poem and the future ones are all from the novel called the _Scribbler of Dreams _by Mary E. Pearson, so I highly recommend that you go and read it!**

**So please review! **


	2. Chapter 2: First Day of Hell

Hey, glad you like my story so far. Here's the next chapter…………oh yah before I forget I um…

(MY LAWYER) Keep going…

(ME) idon'towninuyashaortheplotofscribblerofdreams (gasping for air)

(MY LAWYER) Good, Here's a pair of shoes.

(ME) Shoes……….well on with the story.

Loving the Enemy 

**Chapter 2: First Day at Hell**

Before I put the car in park Sota was sprinting to the door. I can't say I blame him really. Our old rusty Buick came rambling into the student parking lot like some old piece of thrash against all of the shiny jeeps and beamers that lined the lot. Shikon High was so preppy it was pathetic.

"Hey Sota, Wait." I yelled. "Don't forget that you take the bus home! You do know which one to take?"

He mumbled something and waved as he ran to meet up with what I presume his friends. He'd be okay; he actually had friends at this sad excuse for a school. But me? I had refused to go to the orientation with Sota thinking that there might be a reprieve from this whole ordeal, but the reprieve never came, now I had to find my way around this sprawling campus. I pulled out a crumpled piece of paper that held my schedule and map from my pack.

1.AP EngRm 512Maccaso

2.AP CalcRm 213Morsette

3.AP BioRm 16AGreer

4.AP GovtRm 825Mailey

LUNCH

5. Srvy Hist/ CulRm 520Ames

I only had to take five classes because I already had so many credits. One class after lunch, then I was done for the day. That's why Sota had to take the bus home, but I knew that he didn't mind. He would rather talk with his friends then with me anyway.

I rotated the map trying to make sense of its lay out. There didn't seem to be any logic to it's numbering. There were so many rooms. I couldn't even find the 500's on the map. St. Michaels Academy was never like this. I really missed its small size.

Students rushed past me, all knowing where their first class of the year started. Nearly four thousand of them. How could a school be so big? I got pulled into the swarm of chattering faces, but none chattered with me. I might as well been invisible. I searched for numbers on the sides of the doors but there was none. A knot started to form in my throat as I continued to search for anything familiar. The crowds where beginning to thin as more and more students found their classes. I studied the map again hoping that there was something that I missed, but alas there was nothing but numbering that made no sense.

_Brrring!_

I looked up from the map, the halls, lawns-they were all empty.

God, what was I doing here! I hated this school. I hated the Takahashi's. I fought the panic and tears from rising. I resisted my muscles from sprinting back into my car and taking off before it was to late.

I jump at a tap on my shoulder and spun around.

"Lets have a look." A human being was actually talking to me.

She handed back my schedule after looking up from it a few times.

"Five-twelve. Right behind you. It's that room right there." The woman smiled then turned around and left. I mumbled a thank you and quickly walked into my class. I thought the worst was behind me, but I was wrong. When I entered the already seated classroom and walked to my seat every eye was upon me, watching me. Scrutinizing the way I walked, the way I wore my hair, the way I clumsily sat in the only empty chair. The way I fumbled for a pencil. The way I tried to sit up straight, tried to slouch, tried to be invisible.

Every class was the same. I was an outsider- the one who was different from everyone else. I cringed each time the teacher would call roll-announced that I Kagome Nakamura existed, occupied that seat. Daughter of a Takahashi killer. But no one noticed cause wasn't Nakamura a name that was splash across the nightly news for endless months. Mother's plan was working thought it still didn't bring me any comfort.

It seemed for the rest of the day I was dropping pencils, sitting in the wrong seat, passing papers the wrong way. I was not one of them. I would never be.

Like I said I was the outsider, the glitch with the finely tuned machine of students that knew each other, who worked with each other, who told secrets with each other for years. When the fourth period bell finally rang I was the first one out of the door. I breathed in deeply like I was struggling underwater for hours.

I had only taken a few steps down the hallway when I heard a whistle and a "Yeah!" I turned and two boys who looked like bookends; Black shorts, white T-shirts, long hair with their hats on backwards where grinning at me. My face burned, a wave of heat raced across my chest. My mind was racing. Where they flirting, making fun of me? I didn't know. God, I was so out of step. I awkwardly turned and hurried away. I had to find a quiet place. A place to be alone and think.

I couldn't go sit in my car. The September heat was already making the black asphalt start to squiggle back and forth. I started down a walkway not knowing to where it might lead. All I knew was that it was the opposite direction of where most of the groups were heading. A group of laughing girls bumped into me as they passed. Not even caring to look back. Flipping their hair back while their relaxed laughter filled the air. They seemed shallow, self-absorbed, with their prefect hair, and prefect white teeth. But I still couldn't help my self to feel a little bit jealous.

At the far end of the campus I found an isolated shady courtyard that bordered a small hill. I sat down on the single picnic table. I was as far away as I could get from the loud, noisy lunch line and the strolling swarms. I was alone. Perfect.

I briefly thought about what mom and Sota had said to me earlier this morning. But they didn't understand that writing in my journal was a way to get my feeling out, to write about how I feel.

A dread, a dream. Often nothing at all, but a glimpse into my consciousness, it's something that I can grasp with my mind, but I can slow it down and trap it on paper. Some people play soccer, and some jog so why can I write?

I pulled out my journal from my backpack along with the apple and a water bottle. I closed my eyes. I was silent except for the occasional robin chirping or the yelling of people in the distance. My heat started to slow down, my shoulder relaxed. I was now calm. I half opened my eyes to write

My half open eyes shot open and I clutch my journal to my chest. I wasn't alone anymore. Twenty feet in front of me under a tree on the hill was a boy. He was lying down with his eyes closed and his head laid on his pack. Why was he over here? Did he have no friends either? My mind continued to race with explanations to why this guy was here of all places. I couldn't see much of his face because his hat covered it but what I could see was straight silver hair. He wore old blue jeans and a plain white T-shirt his cloths were just as uneventful as mine. I stared at him for a long while. He didn't move. I debated if was still alive or not cause I could barely see his chest raise and fall. I decided that his peaceful slumber wouldn't bother me. I would share this peaceful corner with him. I pick up my journal and started to write. As each word spilled out, I could feel the tension in my shoulders, neck, and soul leave as well. The world around me began to blur as more and more words appeared on the paper.

_Green, Brown, Green, Brown. Row after row of dark earth and robust plants, carrying the hope of tomorrow in their red fruit. Hope that there would de a tomorrow. Their roots reaching down, sucking every drop of water, holding on to every grain of soil. Holding on…_

I set my journal on the table and stretched my arms and fingers. I quickly jerked my hands back into my lap, the boy had sat up. He was writing to. As I watched he broad stroke I realized that he was not writing but sketching. Maybe the tree above him or the surrounding buildings. The look on his face must be how I imagine I look when I'm writing. Oblivious to the world but still purposeful, maybe not all the guys at Shikon High were mindless bookends that I had encountered earlier today.

Some laughter brought my attention to the walkway, a group of two guys and three girls approached.

"Hey Inuyasha," one of the boys shouted as the group tromped across the grass and exchanged slaps and shakes with the boy under the tree.

"Inuyasha" I whispered. So his name is Inuyasha. Different. And he did so have friends. The group continued on their way but shortly after the same scene repeated its self. They all fussed over him like he was king. He did have friends…He had a lot.

With the second group gone the courtyard became quiet and peaceful once again. Inuyasha turned his attention back to his sketching, and I was wondering about a popular boy who sought solitude in an isolated courtyard. Why? I hadn't realized that I was staring until he looked up. I caught my breath. Even at twenty feet away I could feel the intensity of his amber eyes. One, Two, Three seconds the stare continued. I was mortified

That I wasn't the first one to look away. He resumed to his sketching, but even after I could still feel his warm amber eyes. I felt the burning flush that plagued me rush across my cheeks.

_Brrring_

Lunch was finally over, I was so glad. I packed away my journal and hurried off to my last class. Thank god that I only had one more class of this retched takahashi school.

My last class Survey of Local History and Culture. It was a joke. A graduation requirement, a complete waste of my time, and a final slap on my face by the Takahashi's. A reminder that I was in a place that I didn't want to be. I sat in daze all class and when the bell finally rang I rushed out and int0o the parking lot. Since most students still had sixth period that lot was still full of cars but not of students. I paused at my car and looked back at the building. Acres of concrete surrounded by more acres of concrete as far as the eyes could see. It wasn't always that way. But of course that's the Takahashi's speciality. Change.

I got in to the car and rolled down the windows. I sped off letting the wind blow wildly through the car. Letting it blow all the memories of the day away, all the thoughts, period, from my mind. But the wind couldn't blow away on thought. The thought of the warm amber eyes.

So did you like? Well please review cause I really appreciate to know that people actually read my story. The next chapter will be out in like 4-5 days. I think I'll update every 4-5 days now on. And thanks to those of you who did review: **XsangoX **and**Inu Youkai Gurl **I really appreciate it.


	3. Chapter 3: The History

**Before I start I would like to thank the following reviewers: Inu Youkai Gurl, CrimsonShadows, Sourskittleschan, KInasha14, and Karmarox thanks for your reviews they mean a lot to me !**

Now on with the story…

Loving the Enemy

**Chapter 3: The History**

As I droved down the dirt road heading to the Higurashi's company offices, a cloud of dust trailed behind me. The offices where nothing special. Just tin huts that looked over the rice paddies and soyabean feilds. They were divided into three sections. One for payroll and billing, my mom's job. One office for ordering and shipping and overall supervision, now my moms job also. And the third office for our foreman. He's in charge of supervising the planting, spraying, and harvesting of the rice. He was new to the job. I didn't really care for him that much, but I knew that we were lucky to have him. Our last foreman, toshi had I heart attack that forced him to retire early. He worked for us as long as I can remember. That happened shortly after we lost our dad; so mom was grateful that someone with experience had answered her add. She could take over my dad's job for a while but not the foreman's too, that was just too much for her.

I opened the door and let the wind slam it for me. Naraku was sitting at his desk with his feet up smoking a cigarette.

" Uh… hi Naraku have you seen my mom?"

" She just left. Went down to Kawasaki I think." He said in his gravely voice that sent cold chills down my spine. That was another reason I disliked Naraku something about him always made me feel uncomfortable and sent shivers down my spine.

I tried to act unaffected, but mom going down to Kawasaki meant that she was going to see dad. I was about to open my mouth to change the subject, but Naraku went on.

" She's an awful pretty lady to be going all through this. I think"

"Thanks Naraku, I'll see her at home."

I stumbled though the door and leaned against the hot tin side, hopping that Naraku didn't see the glisten in my eyes. The hot melt started to burn against my skin but all I felt was the hot streaming tears that ran down my face. I didn't take an outsider lke Naraku to tell me what my mother was going through. I pushed away form the hot side and stared to walk up the hill to the section of land that over looked the ocean. I was heading for "my rock" a large flat boulder that had been my refuge when I was a child. It had been a island, castle, a boat, anything my imagination would think of, it became. Today all I wanted it to be was far away from everything else.

I reached the top of the hill and sit down on my rock. I tried to catch my breath. The lump in my throat was cutting the air off. I closed my eyes and tried to force the air in. Deeply, slowly.

I was only a small speck, alone, on top of the world and that's all that I wanted to be. Surrounded by the precious Takahashi land, the Higurashi land, and the ocean… I was ten years old again. Why did everything have to change?

Why did my father have to kill a Takahashi?

It was an accident of course, but who's gona believe him? The hatred between the Takahashi and the Higurashi's go back five generations. It all started when the Takahashi sisters part ways.

Kikyo Takahashi was a slut. She slept around with anything that wore pants. And when she became pregnant without marriage, her sister, Keada Takahashi refused to ever see her again. When their parents died and left the sisters thousands of acres that is now known as Shikon No Tama they split it right down the centre using an old barb wire fence, that is still here today in some places.

Views were a dime a dozen back then, so not much thought was put into them when they divided up the land. The Higurashi's got the best of it. We know its s torn in the Takahashi's side that million dollar views are being wasted for soybeans and rice. Its not like they would even enjoy it. Kikyo Takahashi sold off huge chunks of land and when it was convenient she sold it all. My parents say it was the only way a woman like her could gain acceptance in her day.

Nowadays there isn't a single acre of Takahashi land that doesn't have a hotel, shopping mall, or housing on it. That's why they're filthy rich. My parents emphasize the filthy part. While the Higurashi land is the green jewel, a breathing space, a amusing wonder in a sea of concert. Not one single acre has ever been sold, not one. It is the pride of the Higurashi's but with that pride we carry a lot of debt. That's why we are usually broke.

I've heard the story a thousand times. My grandfather would tell it to me before he died and now my father did. "The Takahashi's are not to be trusted. They have no feelings, no sense of right and wrong. They are empty shell that devours everything in their path. That's the way they have always been and always will be. It has always bonded the Higurashi's the few that we are, knowing itwas against them. It is hard to believe that we were once related to the Takahashi's.

A trail of dust was forming down on the road below me. It was my mother; she had came back form her visit with dad. I wondered which part of her would be gone today? Her and my dad were very close and the indecent left her very tired. They would have surely put my mother in jail also if only she didn't have a farm to run and kids to raise. Every time she returns form seeing dad she looks a little bit more tired and old. It seems that every time she sees him it take a little more out of her. I don't know how much more she can take.

I pull my eyes away form the dust trail and to the Takahashi empire beyond. They had no Idea how much pain their lies had caused. But someday they would know. I would make sure of it. I ran down the hill to my car and drove home.

When I arrived home my mom was in her bedroom with the door closed. I knew what that meant. Soon I'd hear the shower pipes ringing, and then she would emerge as though the cold water could wash away any pain that she held. Both of us knew that wasn't true but it could at least hide the tears. She was a Higurashi too, and making the best of it.

I ran up to my bedroom and flopped on my bed, I wanted to call Sango Yamamoto, my best friend but I was afraid that if I called her she should start talking about her first day at school and I would start to cry. Instead I pulled out all the papers that my mother had to sign. Contracts that I would arrive on time, turn in my homework on time, respect others, complete all assignments, and not cheat! What a waste of paper. I skimmed through the outline of my science class and English class. It was not what I imagined. All my years at St. Michaels Academy I thought the "other school" would be as shallow as the Takahashi's but these classes actually look challenging. I looked through all the other paper that needed to be signed, Medical Releases, Codes of Conduct, Textbook Agreements, lunchtime passes. Lunch. I though about the only peaceful part of my day, the part that filled me with anticipation for tomorrow. My eyes started to glaze over as I looked at the pile; my pillow reached up and grabbed my head.

_Green, green. The cool green grass on my cheek, bits of golden sun break through the clouds as they cover me in their warmth. The warm amber rays heats up my skin and makes me tingle… clear, warm amber that reminds me that I'm only seventeen years old, that I still want to laugh, dream, hope…love. The blackness that hugs my soul retreats…_

" KAGOME! Its your turn to set the dinner table." Sota's whining voice jolted me awake."

I leaped from my bed and grabbed the pile of papers that my mom needed to sign. I walked down the stairs and join my brother and mother in the kitchen. I set the table and placed and the pile of papers where my mother would sit so she would see them. As we sat down at the table we ll held each others hands and said a quick prayer. We prayed for everything, our food, good crops, and for my father. But we never prayed for the Takahashi's.

" So tell me about your guys days." My mom said.

"How did it go?"

Sota rattled on and on about his day as I picked at spaghetti.

" And then coach tells me that I should try out for the football team."

" That's wonderful honey, and Kagome did you make any new friends?"

My mom and Sota stared at me with expectant eyes. I knew what they wanted to hear. I lie was justified. I swallowed my mouth full of spaghetti. "Yah I meat someone, a boy."

" And does this boy have a name?" my mom asked.

I rolled his name around my tongue before I whispered it. "Inuyasha."

I expected Sota to make fun at the name or accused me of liking him but he only gave me an odd glance before he focussed on his spaghetti. It wasn't like Sota at all.

I was quiet for a long time now, only the occasional cough and clinking of forks on the plates was heard. My mother stopped eating and shifted in her seat.

"I have some news." She said.

Sota and I put our forls down and looked up. My throat started to tighten, my mother never "had news" I didn't want news.

"Its your father," she said. "He's coming home."

**So? Good, bad, ok? Please review. Oh and before I forget I won't be able to update til next week. Sorry about this but I'm going to Vancouver for 5 days and I have a lot to tests coming up to study for, so the next chapter will be out by Wednesday next week. And thanks to all who reviewed it means a lot to me to know that people like reading my story.**


	4. Chapter 4 :another day in hell

**I'm sorry that it took so long to update but between school and piano (yes I play) I had no time to even write but now it's the long weekend and I plan on finishing at least 3 more chapters (ha yah right) Oh and by the way I had a great vacation if anyone was wondering… and before I forget… after you read this please go and check out my friend's ( **Niji o Tsukinuketa) **story called _Cherry Blossoms of Rythmic Time_ please check it out its REALLY GOOD ! and thanks for all of the reviews...now…. on with the story……….**

**_Kay, this part is really annoying to write in every chapter and my lawyer is running out of shoes to get me so, from now on I'm not going to write it in cause this one covers the whole story…. ahem…I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA AND/OR CHARACTERS FROM INUYASHA, AND I DON'T OWN THE NOVEL CALLED SCRIBBLER OF DREAMS…. Now that's all cleared up on with the story… for real this time…._**

**LOVING THE ENEMY**

_Chapter 4: Another day in Hell…_

I thought it couldn't get any worse then the first day of school, but boy was I wrong. Every step I took burned into my mind. My father was coming home, and I was on the very land that he despised. In the camp of the enemy.

I loved my dad, and I felt like a traitor. It was 5 weeks before he would be paroled; he had earned work credits to shorten his two-year prison term for manslaughter. That would give my mom time to break the news to him…to tell him where Sota and I went to school. It was all that I could think about as I tried to take notes in each class. I bolted from my seat as the fourth period bell rang.

"Hey Kagome! What's your hurry?"

The bookends were right behind me. I ignored them and walked faster, praying they wouldn't follow me. My Prayers were answered. Their attention was redirected as soon as we passed the snack window. Thank God. I was looking forward to lunch and being alone…well almost alone.

I arrived at the courtyard; Inuyasha, a few minuets later. He nodded and smiled at me before he lay down on his grassy knoll and closed his eyes. It was only a nod… only a smile, but my fingers trembled as I wrote in my journal. A short while later I watched as he sat up and pulled out his sketchpad from his pack. We each sat there in our own little worlds, releasing our hearts onto paper, and I wondered if the images he laid down brought order to his life… the way my words did to my own. He caught me in another stare, but this time I was not mortified. I felt a constant blush move across my cheeks, but it only felt warm. His warm amber eyes seemed somehow…familiar, and that vague familiarity, again, made me catch my breath. When the bell rang, he jammed his sketchpad in his pack and awkwardly raised his hand to me.

"Bye," he said

I floated to my next class.

It was crazy. I was suppose to be hating school and really I was. Really. But lunch isn't exactly school, was it? I didn't understand what was coming over me. I couldn't get him out of my mind. Was it because he spilled his feeling out on paper too? Or was it something else…I didn't know. I only knew I felt angry with myself as I hurried to get ready for the next day of school. Irritated with myself as I glanced at my pocket mirror when the fourth-period bell rang, and then guilty as I rushed to lunch.

The guilt disappeared as soon as he made his entrance into the courtyard. It was like we had a quiet understanding. We didn't intrude on each other's space, but there was never a second when we weren't aware of the other's presence. He pulled out his sketchpad; I, my journal.

_September 8_

_I swim in a swirling crystal ocean. Water as far as the eye can see, and my arms, and legs grow weary. Then in the midst of its all, am island rises for the blue and I stretch out on its warm sands. The heat caresses my cheek, the sand moulds to my body, hugging me, I never want to leaver…I am safe._

"Poetry?"

I was jerked from the island back to the courtyard. He…he…was talking to me.

"Huh?" _Brilliant, Kagome. Master of words_. Huh.

"Are you writing poetry?" he asked again.

"No, uh, no." _Composure, Kagome. Composure_. Think.

"Just glimpses, things running through my head." I willed my face not to turn red.

He smiled and nodded. An understanding.

The lunch bell rang.

"See you tomorrow," he said

"Sure, Tomorrow." I watched him walk away.

_Tomorrow._

I don't remember walking to my next class. I didn't see the walkway, the door, and the seat. I couldn't hear the teacher talk as she began her lecture. I saw clumps of long silver hair that gently fell over the shoulder. I saw tanned and toned arms against a white T-shirt. I saw a tentative smile, a busy hand sketching. I heard a low voice and felt the texture of warm sand caressing my cheek. I was immersed in amber eyes that warmed up my soul. I heard the words, over and over, creating their own symphony…

_See You Tomorrow. _

By the time I got home, I decided I was a lunatic. Certified. Or maybe I was just pathetically needy. Or better yet, maybe I could just chalk it up to hormones. But it didn't feel like hormones. It felt like more. A bond? Maybe? There had been boys at St. Michaels Academy, but never one who hunted my thoughts. Never one who sent a wild rush pulsing through my veins just by the mere memory of his eyes. Was this what it felt like to be seventeen? Was this the normal I craved? Self-absorbed? Indulgent? Entertaining fantasises I dared not whispered.

I was brought back to reality when my mother arrived home. The slamming of the kitchen door was enough to jolt me from my thoughts.

"What's wrong?" I asked. I jumped up from our fraying green couch.

My mom closed her eyes and put her fingers to her temples. "Just a sec. let me think."

I could tell she was trying to clam down. She was tried of crying too. But her lips stared too tremble anyways. I forgot to place an order for the winter seed… I thought Naraku was going to do it… But he said that I told him… Oh! It doesn't matter! The bottom line is that our winter seed is going to be late."

I pulled my mom over to the couch and sat her down.

Her hands shook in mine. I squeezed them to try to stop her trembling. She poured out all of her frustration and fears. "Our winter crop is so important Kagomes. The Lawyers have been hounding me for money, and when I tell them that don't have any, they tell to sell some of our land. But then I tell them we aren't like those damn Takahashi's! They don't understand. And the taxes are overdue. The winter crop was going to keep our heads above water, so I can't mess up. I've got to …"

I pulled her close to me. "Its ok Mom. It will all work out." I held her tight, and she sobbed on my shoulder. There were always more tears.

"Its just that with your father coming home… I just want it all to be here… ready for him…like it was before. Before they turned our lives upside down. There's so much to get ready. Its just so hard…"

We held each other. There was nothing left to say. I knew she wasn't crying just over the seeds, lawyers, or the taxes. Those worries had always been there. It was fear. The lost months. Wondering if things could ever be the same like it was before. I was afraid, too. I hadn't seen my dad since he was carted off to prison. He refused us to let him visit him in prison. The Higurashi's children, he said, would never step foot in a prison. They would never see their dad in prison uniform. Did the Takahashi's know about that? Did they care? Did empty shells ever care? It was their lies that put him there. Someday they would know. Someday.

"I'm sorry, Kagome. I don't mean to put all this on you." My mom wiped her eyes and stood up. The wave of fear had passed for now.

I tucked a stray curl behind my ear. "Its ok, Mom. We just have to stick together right?" She brushed her hand across my cheek and smiled.

"Right, now come and tell me about your day as I make dinner."

I told her the details about my classes but only a brief mention about lunch. I still felt guilty that there was something that I liked at Shikon No Tama high. Something that made me look forward to the next day.

"Well, I'm glad you've met a least one person. An artist yet!" She said as she swished a head of lettuce under the tap. "What did you say his name was?"

"Inuyasha." Inuyasha. Just a boy from school I hated. A boy that I had only exchanged a dozen or so words with. I should be able to erase him from my mind.

I should.

On Thursday. I waited for the bookends to leave the classroom first. I was catching on to their game, and I decided to play it better. It was only seconds before their stomachs overruled their peanut sized brains, and they were on their way to the cafeteria. I hurried to the courtyard. The sun sizzled and I felt damp wisps of hair sticking to my forehead. My peach tank top clung to my back. I looked forward to my cool, shady spot at the picnic table.

When I arrived, Inuyasha was already there in my spot. I hesitated. I wasn't sure where I should sit. Next to him? In his spot under the tree? He raised his eyes to mine. My question was answered. I sat down, across from him at the table.

"Hi, I hope you don't mind me taking over your spot. I'm Inuyasha."

"Yes, I know. I mean, I hear your friends call you name the other day. I'm Kagome." I held my hand out, and then wished I didn't. It was so formal, but he took it anyway and held it longer then needed. There was a bond. I was right.

"I just wanted to show you something." He pulled out his sketchpad from his pack and flipped back a couple of pages. He turned the pad so that I could see.

My mouth fell open. It was me. A few spare lines, that beginning of a face trying to emerge from a sea of white. But me . Definitely me. When? How? But then I knew the glances were not at all of the trees and buildings. They were at me.

"Of course its not done yet." he went o0n. "Just an initial sketch, but I wanted to make sure it was okay with you, that is, if I can keep looking at you! I mean, sketch you, over the next few days. Are you ok with that? I need the practice. Will you be here?" He drew in a deep breath.

"Yes I'll be hear and, yes I'm ok with that. " My heart was already melting at the way he stumbled over his words. Was his artwork that important to him… or was it possible that I made him nervous? I looked back at the sketch.

"Just these few simple lines are beautiful, I don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything. I'm just glad I have such a good model."

My chest did a flip-flop.

"You're new here, aren't you?" he asked

"Yes. It's my first year. How did you know?"

"You're different."

God was I that out of step?

He must have sensed my embarrassment or my cheeks were tattling on me because he quickly explained further.

"No, I mean a good kind of different. You don't mind being alone. You don't chatter on and on like some people I know."

I smiled. I didn't know what to say. As usual. I looked back to his drawing. "This is really good. It looks so professional."

"Thanks, but I still have a lot to learn."

"Oh are you going to study art in college?"

The smile faded from his face. I Knew I had asked the wrong question.

"I was going to," he said. "I planned on going to the Design Institute in L.A… but I Don't think it's going to work out." He hesitated for a moment and then added, " I've had some family problems, you know how that goes."

I nodded. Yes, I knew

It was more then just hormones. There was a bond. I knew it. I wanted to know him better… I wanted to know everything about him; I wanted him to know me. He must have read my thought. His smile returned.

" I'm glad you liked the sketch, maybe someday I'll be able to read some of the things you write.

Instead of being frightened by the idea of him reading my inner most thoughts I felt warm by it. I looked straight into his eyes, unembarrassed. One, Two, Three seconds the gaze continued.

I smiled. "Yes, and someday I'd like to share them with you."

**_Ok I have good news and bad news…. the good news is that you got a chapter… the bad news is that I didn't have enough time this week to write more… so I have changed my chapter due date to once a week…. Maybe less or maybe more… It depends on the amount of schoolwork I get in a week. So hope you liked the chapter and please review I really appreciate it. Thanks._**


	5. Chapter 5 : IT?

** Hey people! I'm back and I have a new chapter for all of you I know It takes me along time to update but the end of the school year is coming up and even though that leads to fun in the sun it also leads to finals. So sorry for any inconvenience this might cause in future chapters. Oh by the way I think this story is going to be… about…at least 35 chapters or more… I think more but that can all change in a blink of an eye. Oh and before I forget, I was like reading over my pervious chapters seeing if I missed any important details and I completely forgot to tell you that Inuyasha may have the silver/white hair, and has the amber eyes but he is not a half demon or any kind of demon. So with that said he will be having no ears, I repeat no ears (Dog-ears I mean. Of course he has human ears, he has to hear I'm not that mean) Well I won't keep you waiting, so on with the story…**

**LOVING THE ENEMY**

**Chapter 5:**

Each day our brief chats were hesitant, shy, but for me, filled with expectation. By the middle of the following week, I could barely hide my eagerness to go to school. I was convinced Inuyasha had to be a gift from God, a gift, to help me survive the Takahashi wilderness.

On Wednesday as I got ready for school, Sota walked into me room unannounced. He observed me in my Bra and jeans holding up a red top in front of my dresser mirror. Two other tops lay on the floor at my feet. He let out a short whistle and chuckled.

"Get out I'm changing!" I yelled. Standard protocol between us.

Sota didn't listen. No surprise.

"Its not like I haven't seen you in bra before."

He planted himself against the doorjamb.

" And since when did you start caring about your clothes? Besides, what difference does in make what you wear? Its not like anyone sees you anyway."

"Oh, sure. In a school of almost three thousand students, no one sees me. Right."

" I never see you at lunch. Just where do you go?"

The way he asked made me think that he knew exactly where I went. He had always been on the sneaky side and the last thing I need right now was Sota taunting me about Inuyasha.

" It's none of your business. Why do you care anyways? Now get out of my room! I got to get ready or we'll be late!"

I raised my voice signalling that this conversation was now over and that the next step was calling Mom. Standard protocol, too. He left, his brows knitted together, not like he was angry, but more like he was puzzled. I hoped his little freshman brain wouldn't short out.

I threw down the red top and pulled on a plain white T. No sense in giving him fuel.

In spite of my free-for-all with my clothes, we still managed to get to school on time. When the fourth period bell finally rang, I was ready to hurry to the courtyard, but Mr. Mailey held me back. H complimented me on my "Exceptional" performance on my first assignment, an essay on Japanese Isolationism. I thanked him and left. I was wasting precious minutes of my lunch. As soon as I walked out the door, the Bookends stepped in front of me, blocking my path.

"Beautiful and smart!"

"Yeah your quite the catch!"

"What a Babe!"

Why did they have to harass me? Was I an easy target? I tried to step around them, but they carefully maundered in front of me again. I felt the flush that was my trademark spreading across my face. It was further humiliation.

"C'mon, Kagome, we're just trying to be friendly. Don't you want to be friendly?"

Friendly like vipers. But I couldn't force the words from my mouth. I pushed my way through them, triggering their laughter. They had their fun for the day. They didn't follow me and went off to feed their perverted lumps of flesh.

I focused on my path to the courtyard, trying to erase the image of a slimly piece of food that was wedged in Bookend #2's grinning front teeth. Even with the ninety-plus-degree heat, I shivered. _A gift. Yes, Inuyasha is a gift to help me survive this Takahashi nightmare._ He made me feel that some small, miserable piece of my seventeen- year-old life was normal or could be.

"Hi." Inuyasha smoothed a stray lock back with one hand and smiled.

He tension melted from my shoulders. I could almost forget that I was at school at all. I sat down at the picnic table on the same side as him, measuring the distance between us. I sat. Not too close to imply that I thought there was something going on between up, but not to far as to imply that I didn't want there to be.

"Hi" I said. Hi. My muscles were made of vanilla pudding. There was no tension, anywhere at least not the bad kind. I pulled a fat red apple from my backpack twisting the stem with fingers.

He nodded to wards his pack.

"I'm almost done."

"With my portrait? Can I see?"

"Tomorrow. I'll show you tomorrow if that's Okay. I just want to put some finishing touches on it and to think about it a little more.

"Think about it? You think about your drawings?"

I edged closer to him, hoping I didn't sound totally ignorant about art.

"I mean, I just thought with drawing it was more of a seeing thing."

"You can't see everything with your eyes. I learn that in Drawing 101. Like my teacher said, there is a roundness, a depth, a hidden side to everything that holds it together…like this "

He grabbed my hand that was clutching the apple and cupped it in his. My hand burned with a thousand tiny explosions, but I didn't pull away. He guided my fingers around the apple as he explained.

"When you've held an apple in your hand, felt its smooth skin, felt its weight, ran your fingers around it, maybe taken a bit out and tasted it, you know there is more to it then a round red circle; you understand what holds something together, your drawing will show that. "

He lifted his eyes from the apple to my face.

"But some things are more complicated than apples; you can't hold them or dissect them so you have to think about them…"

He squeezed my hand tighter around the apple.

"You think about them, sometimes in the dark…when you're alone…you think about the hidden parts and what holds them together."

He let go of my hand.

The apple rolled from my Vanilla pudding fingers to the ground. I finally took a breath.

Inuyasha jumped up to retrieve my dented apple.

"Sorry."

He rubbed it on his shirt to get the grit and dirt off.

"I think you can still eat."

No matter how dented that apple was, nothing in the world could stop me from eating in now.

The next day I very nearly ran to the courtyard. I moved so fast out of fourth period, I caught the Bookends off guard and were left in my dust. The night before I hardly slept, tossing and turning. With the September heat pressing down on me, I skimmed my bare legs across the sheets searching for coolness in the blackness. Searching for coolness, rest, and peace. Unlike Inuyasha, my thinking didn't bring me insight but restlessness, searching for an answers in the void of my room. I wondered, over and over and over again, was it merely an art lesson that had passed between us or something more? It had to be more. I needed it to be more.

And who had I become? A few weeks ago I was repulsed at the thought of attending a Takahashi school. Now each day I was filled with anticipation. It didn't seem right. What would my father think? But I wasn't embracing the Takahashi's, only finding refuge in one small corner of this ugly nightmare they had created. I was a Higurashi. I was surviving.

I slowed as I neared the courtyard, conscious of the dampness on my neck, hoping I didn't look like a sweaty mess. He might reconsider his drawing. Today he was lying in the shad on the grassy knoll, his eyes staring up into the leafy canopy above him, studying it. I suppose he looked at everything a little differently than most people. I liked that.

I nosily scuffed my shoes on the sidewalk as I approached. He glanced over and, seeing me, he jumped up scooping up his pack along with him. I sat down on the table and he sat beside me.

"It's done. Want to see it?"

I nodded, unable to trust myself with words. The anticipation grew as he pulled out his sketchbook. He turned back a few pages and gently pulled out a sheet and handed it to me.

I held the paper in my hands. I t wasn't what I expected. The simple elegant lines had been transformed into a intricate, luxurious weave of strokes, crossing at perfect angles to reveal planes, strands, crevices, and shadows. The sheer beauty of the lines alone mesmerized me. It then they gathered together in perfect form, like words in a perfect poem how they flow together, to create an image that was me. Me. Not just the shape of my face or the length of my hair, but the hidden parts. The frightened me, the dreamy me… the yearning me. It swirled around on the page with my eyes, my hair, and half-parted lips. I couldn't speak. What else had he seen? I brushed at the flush rising on my cheeks, hoping he wouldn't notice.

"It's a gift," I finally whispered. "You truly have a gift it's amazing."

"You like it then?"

I nodded. No words could convey the emotion surging through me. The bond had just deepened. And some how I think he understood that. My nod was enough. He smiled and that seemed like the seal on our wordless exchange.

A warm breeze caught the paper in my hands and almost whisked it away. He scooted closer and we looked together at the drawing again. My eyes followed the sensitive lines, from my forehead, to floating wisps of hair down to the neckline-like a kiss. My skin tingled. I wondered if his did, too. My fingers gently touched the small letters

"I.T.?" I asked

He smiled. "Yeah Inuyasha- Inuyasha Takahashi."

** That took me sooooo long to finish, I hope you all enjoyed it and hope fully the next chapter will be up before you now it. Remember reviews make me want to update date so the more reviews the faster the updates Promise. **


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